AIBU to ask University to sort it out?

[Ethernet]

DS is in first year of university and is in Halls accommodation. His ethernet/internet socket doesn't work and he is reliant on WiFi to access lectures. He currently has about 60% lectures online and 40% face to face. Problem is that WiFi is dodgy and has a habit of dropping out regularly.

He has asked University to repair the faulty Internet/ethernetbut they are saying no due to Covid.
I am anxious that it is difficult for him to access his learning with a dodgy WiFi connection.
Should he just struggle on as best he can or should he be pressing University to repair the faulty ethernet socket as it is making it hard to attend online lectures?

Yes, YABU.
He's an adult and he needs to get them to sort it - if you get involved, they're more likely to ignore it. It's none of your business. He should definitely keep complaining until they fix it but I wouldn't hold out much hope - students are there to give universities money, nothing else. When I was a student, there were no working toilets or running water on campus accommodation for almost two weeks - we very much got the "we don't care" attitude.
Hopefully he can get it sorted but he might want to invest in a dongle.

Yes, he needs to press it. I'd think about skipping up a few levels, maybe to whoever is in charge of his department or academic area. Sometimes going to the administrators doesn't get anything done.

Not unreasonable for him to push them. Totally unreasonable for you to do it.

He should ask for an alternative place to work while they fix it too

He needs to press it, perhaps suggest he contacts the SU for support, particularly any academic advice/support services.

@MudSmudge

Yes, YABU. He's an adult and he needs to get them to sort it - if you get involved, they're more likely to ignore it. It's none of your business. He should definitely keep complaining until they fix it but I wouldn't hold out much hope - students are there to give universities money, nothing else. When I was a student, there were no working toilets or running water on campus accommodation for almost two weeks - we very much got the "we don't care" attitude. Hopefully he can get it sorted but he might want to invest in a dongle.

He's bought a WiFi dongle but Internet connection drops out regularly so this is problematic.

Covid shouldn't be an excuse not to fix it. Assuming he is not isolating he should leave the room, leaving the window open and after a short wait the Internet person can safely enter.

Absolutely agree with everyone.
Ethernet issue should be fixed immediately. It’s could be simple a faulty connector somewhere. Not a difficult issue to fix. Your son could offer to stay out of the room as often as it needs for technicians to solve the issue.

You as the parent should not be the one filing the complaint. It will really leave a lasting poor impression on your son for the uni. Remember, uni is a small place and everyone talks.

I assume your son is an adult and not a child. This is an excellent opportunity for him to practice his life skills. Such as making complaint and seeing it through. It will serve him well later on in life.
As much as you love him and are accustomed to doing everything for him, you ought be conscious of age appropriate ways of motherly love. At this age your role is more of guidance and advice as opposed to clearing out all opportunities for him to learn.

That's mad. Which uni is it? Presumably they wouldn't have to access his bedroom to make a repair to WiFi in the area.

Support him to press this indirectly.

It is important given that the uni has decided to drag all the first years on to campus to then teach them largely remotely that they can damn well pull their fingers out and make sure that they make sure they have reliable internet access.

What does his contract say about internet provision? I expect that it will be part of his rental agreement so I'd be pushing him to mention rent reductions. That'll probably make them change their tune.

Are the halls university owned or private? If private, the university may not be able to influence repairs.

If university owned then your son should absolutely press for a resolution. The university should be providing suitable alternative space for him to conduct his online study whilst this is going on. Some unis are asking students to leave campus when they don’t have in person teaching. If this is your son’s uni’s policy and they are failing to provide a reliable internet service at home, he must must must complain. He should start with the personal tutor and/or the Registry and go from there.

You as the parent should not be the one filing the complaint. It will really leave a lasting poor impression on your son for the uni. Remember, uni is a small place and everyone talks

If the admin straff did their jobs properly they wouldn't have time to talk. Anyway I assume they're all at home, so it's more difficult to gossip about helicopter parents in the office. I can't really see that tutors and lecturers would listen to gossip from somebody in facilities admin anyway.

But yes it's better if he complains himself but there is nothing to stop you giving him the wording for the email to send himself.

It's only on MN that once kids reach the grand old age of 18 parents are no longer "allowed" to do anything for them, though.

I know how tempting in can be to make calls to sort this stuff out. DS1 was not very assertive and I can't remember the exact number of times I told him to contact the landlord of his uni accommodation when things broke in the house. I had to sit on my hands not to email her.

I agree he has to chase it himself but you can help with what to say/write etc.

Is he pushing the right service- we have an IT helpdesk and everything goes through them. Or is it the Halls maintenance. Either way, I would start off pestering them again and then move further up the food chain. Of course it's not ok that his internet is broken/crap. However, I know from my own horrible experience with two internet providers (Virgin and some other one) that they often find it very hard to fix things. Also there is a huge wait for engineers as everyone wants that. I think his solution of using a dongle is ok for now, but also costs him money. Do keep complaining, they can fix it but it's slow/everyone wants the same thing right now.

Can he run an extra long Ethernet cable from another socket? Is there such a thing as a "splitter" that will allow two to be plugged into one?

Agree - he needs to sort it himself. The Student Union will help if he has problems.

Yes he should keep politely hassling them. Request a rent reduction until it's fixed and request another room to use in the meantime. Get him to take advantage of any people that can help, e.g. If there is a halls tutor they may be able to help. Does he have as academic tutor? Sometimes an academic can add a bit of clout if things aren't getting sorted.

He should keep hassling them but where I work we are not allowed to discuss student matters with parents (etc), so it's a job for him. So he should be in touch regularly with the accommodation office / manager if University accommodation, if it is a private company, the University will probably say they can't get involved. Contact student union if no more progress by a given date whatever happens as it is affecting his studies. Academic staff are not likely to get involved.

Advise him to put all contact in writing and for any phone calls to send them a summary email of what was said, asking them to correct any errors. Set out a paper trail.

He should get on to the Student Union, his pastoral support and the course senior tutor.
And if he gets nowhere he could tell the vice chancellor that he wants a 50% reduction in fees since he can't access all his lectures...

He should ask his hall tutor to help him, they will be able to push it.

He should sort it out himself
It's Uni not cub camp